Happy Hanukkah to those readers who are celebrating! SYRIA A US airstrike in southeastern Syria on Sunday reportedly killed Abu al-Umarayn, an ISIS leader who was involved in the execution of US citizen and former Army ranger medic Peter Kassig in 2014. Meanwhile, Syrian state media says that US aircraft bombed Syrian army positions south of … Continue reading Middle East update: December 1-2 2018

G20 I was trying to figure out why there seems to have been less news than usual over the past couple of days, and then it hit me: it's the G20. With most of the worst human beings in the world gathered together in Buenos Aires to irritate one another, they're forced to leave the … Continue reading World update: November 30 2018

It's been a long day here and fortunately nothing particularly horrifying appears to have happened in the world, so I'm going to quickly run through a few stories and call it a night. MIDDLE EAST SYRIA In a story that is very much still developing, Russian media is reporting that Syrian air defenses shot down … Continue reading World update: November 29 2018

ASIA GEORGIA Salome Zurabishvili, the candidate of the ruling Georgian Dream party, won Tuesday's presidential runoff election with almost 60 percent of the vote, besting challenger Grigol Vashadze. Georgian Dream is the party of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the richest man in Georgia and the man many believe is really running the country behind the scenes. Zurabishvili, … Continue reading World update: November 28 2018

SYRIA The Russian military says it has intelligence that ISIS is planning a chemical weapons attack against the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces in Deir Ezzor province. Yeah, OK. I mean if ISIS has been sitting on chemical weapons that kind of makes you wonder why it hasn't used them yet, but I get it, things … Continue reading Middle East update: November 28 2018

CLIMATE CHANGE A new United Nations report finds that, despite all the talk and fancy international agreements, governments still aren't doing enough to tackle climate change: Countries are failing to take the action needed to stave off the worst effects of climate change, a UN report has found, and the commitments made in the 2015 … Continue reading World update: November 27 2018

SYRIA Washington is warning the Russian government not to "tamper" with the site of Saturday's alleged rebel chlorine gas attack in Aleppo before the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has a chance to examine it. It's also suggesting that the Syrian government may have staged the attack in order to undermine the deescalation … Continue reading Middle East update: November 27 2018

As usual when I return from an extended break, we'll be sticking to things that happened today or are particularly relevant rather than trying to recap everything that's happened while I was gone. ASIA TAJIKISTAN ISIS has claimed responsibility for causing a riot earlier this month at a Tajik prison in Khujand in which potentially … Continue reading World update: November 26 2018

As usual when I return from an extended break, we'll be sticking to things that happened today or are particularly relevant rather than trying to recap everything that's happened while I was gone. THE WAR ON TERROR While I was away, the Center for Strategic and International Studies released a new report concluding that, 17 … Continue reading Middle East update: November 26 2018